Is anyone else thrown off by Christmas falling over a weekend this year? I feel incredibly ill-prepared. Maybe it’s two years of pandemic or a new job or four new cats in my life but I am just having a hard time believing that Christmas is only two weeks away. Any tips for getting the holiday spirit in a hot minute?
Pens:
- Homage! Colour Treasure 849 Ballpoint Pen (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
- Sailor Fountain Pens: A Comprehensive Guide (via JetPens Blog)
- Fountain Pen Review: BlueDew Writer Lapis (via Rants of The Archer)
- Aurora 88 Unica Nera Fountain Pen Review (via The Pen Addict)
- A Pen Gift-Giving Guide, on WNYC (via The Pen Addict)
- Faber-Castell Textliner 38 Highlighter Review (via The Pen Addict)
- Four Pens Under $40: New Releases That Won’t Break the Bank (via The Gentleman Stationer)
Ink:
- butterflies: kwz monarch (via A Fleeting Ripple)
- Ink Review #738: Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu-Kusa (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist)
- Diamine Inkvent 2022 Day 11: Appletini (via Writing at Large)
- Ink Review #737: Pennonia Balaton Blue (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist)
- Ink Review #1990: Van Dieman’s Bass Strait Cobalt Blue (via Mountain of Ink)
- #1014 DIAMINE Upon a Star (via HAPPY INK DAYS archives)
- Ink Review #1975: Kobe Nankinmachi Fortune Red (via Mountain of Ink)
- Van Dieman’s Deciduous Beech on Muji Planting Tree (via Inkcredible Colours)
Pencils:
- Vintage Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth Mini Aviator Colored Pencils (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
Notebooks & Paper:
- Using an A5 Original for work – by Anita (via Philofaxy)
- Review: Unlined Smythson Notebook (via Notebook Stories)
- Stalogy 365 Days Notebook; a notebook that should have been, is. (via Baum-kuchen)
- The Best Refillable Notebooks (via JetPens Blog)
- New Year, New Plans: 2023 Calendars to Organize Your Year (via Colossal)
Art & Creativity:
- 2022 Temperature Blanket: Final Countdown (via Modern Daily Knitting)
- *FREE* – More Calming Calligraphy Drills (Pointed Pen + Brush Pen) (via The Postman’s Knock)
- Artist Rachel Spelling discovers a new niche in miniatures with her tiny artworks on paint charts (via Creative Boom)
- Master the Calligraphy for Personal and Professional Use (via The Designest)
- 12 designers share their creative resolutions for 2023 (via Creative Boom)
- 4 Gifts for the New Knitter in Your Life (via Modern Daily Knitting)
- Interesting sketchbook pages from this year (via Liz Steel)
Other Interesting Things:
- New LEGO Icons Eiffel Tower Set is Nearly Five Feet Tall (via My Modern Met)
- Gordon the Shiba Inu is the Cutest Rescue Dog of 2022 (via My Modern Met)
- Best of 2022: Top Astrophotography Images of the Year (via My Modern Met)
- Read This Before You Jump on the Lensa “Magic Avatar” Trend (via Hyperallergic)
- Christmas Gift Guide 2022 (via The Tech Guru)
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I hope you get replies. I hurt my right back/hip area taking care of my Mom. Now I can hardly do anything easily. I can’t go to the basement where the gifts are waiting to be wrapped. That’s also where the laundry is done. I can’t bend down without pain, but I can reach up. Little things, that are so easy, are now not easy. I kind of doubt I could get in the car to see a doctor about my injury. I’m hoping I’ll get better in time to go down to get the gifts. Otherwise I might have to ask the neighbors or friends. Hardly feeling the holiday spirit.
So sorry you’re feeling poorly. I hope you feel better soon.
Under-prepared here, too! Finally got a bit in the mood by stringing colored lights around our livingroom window (on the inside). Skipping the tree — that’s how simplified we are this year! And yet still under-prepared! It’s OK, though… your priority should be drinking eggnog (or the equivalent), and everything else will go well!